Page 78 - ΝΑΥΤΙΚΑ ΧΡΟΝΙΚΑ - ΣΕΠΤΕΜΒΡΙΟΣ 2022

SHIPYARD INDUSTRY / ANALYSIS

and 174,000 cubic meters have also increased by 11.75% and Figure 1 The top five shipyards in the world for the first
11.52%, respectively. LNG carriers currently fetch high freight half of 2022 based on orders received: orders are expressed
rates, albeit below the record levels of 2021. As is now evi- in numbers and billions of USD
dent, LNG will play a critical role in the global economy.
That may be particularly true for the economy of Europe, 33
where countries are trying to reduce their dependence on
Russian natural gas. Thus, the LNG market’s short-term and $6.4
medium-term outlook remains optimistic.
31
The world’s most expensive vessel ordered in the first Number of Vessels Ordered
half of the year Cumulative Value of Orders
With ULCVs’ values on an upward trend this year, and seeing
that containerships and gas carriers have traditionally been
the most expensive newbuilds, the contenders for the “most
expensive ship” ordered in the first half of the year were
mainly containerships and LNG carriers rather than bulk $5.4
carriers and tankers.
According to the same VesselsValue data, the title for the
most expensive ship of the year went to a Japanese Ultra
Large Container Vessel. Among the orders clinched by 24
Japan’s Imabari Shipyard, there were three for a total of
four ULCVs, each valued at $255 million: Doun Kisen has
placed an order for two such ULCVs, and Nissen Kaiun and $5
Shoei Kisen have each placed an order for one such vessel.
Unsurprisingly, the orders for the most expensive ships for
the year’s first half were placed with Japanese shipyards. As 20 20
widely acknowledged, unlike Chinese shipyards, the Japa-
nese shipbuilding industry’s competitive advantage is the
technological sophistication and high specifications of the
ships it builds, not its low prices.

The top five shipbuilding companies in the first half of
the year $4
The top five shipyards in the world for the first half of the year $3.9
were Asian, namely South Korean and Chinese. According to
VesselsValue’s data the top five shipyards received orders for
128 ships worth approximately a total of $24.65 billion.
In more detail, the world’s leading shipyard for the year’s first
half was Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI), which won orders
for 33 ships that brought in $6.35 billion. The shipyards in
second and third place were also South Korean: Hyundai
Samho Heavy Industries (31 orders worth $5.4 billion) and
Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (24 orders worth
$5 billion).
Based on the above, the orders placed with South Korean
shipyards account for 69% of the ships and 68% of the value
of the total orders won by the world’s top five shipyards in
the first half of the year.
In fourth and fifth place came two Chinese shipyards, both
subsidiaries of the Chinese giant China State Shipbuilding. Jiangnan Shanghai Changxing Heavy Industries
Jiangnan Shanghai Changxing Heavy Industries and Hudong Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering
Zhonghua Shipbuilding cumulatively won orders for 40 ships Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries Hudong Zhonghua Shipbuilding
with a total value of $7.9 billion, accounting for 31% of the Samsung Heavy Industries
ships and 32% of the order value of all the orders placed
with the world’s top 5 shipyards in the year’s first half.
The picture emerging at the top of the shipbuilding arena
shows only two first-place contenders: South Korea and
China.
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